Love on the Beach
by mjay.rumbelle.3
Summary: During Catching Fire on the beach in the arena, the ligtning doesn't stop Peeta and Katniss this time. Rated M for sexual content.


Love on the Beach

**All direct quotes are taken from "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins.**

"'**No one needs me,' he says, and there's no self-pity in his voice. It's true his family doesn't need him. They will mourn him, as will a handful of friends. But they will get on. Even Haymitch, with the help of a lot of white liquor, will get on. I realize only one person will be damaged beyond compare if Peeta dies. Me.**

'**I do,' I say. 'I need you.' He looks upset, takes a deep breath as if to begin an argument, and that's no good, no good at all, because he'll start going on about Prim and my mother and everything and I'll just get confused. So before he can talk, I stop his lips with a kiss.**

**I feel that thing again. The thing I only felt once before. In the cave last year, when I was trying to get Haymitch to send us food. I kissed Peeta a thousand times during those Games and after. But there was only one kiss that made me feel something stir deep inside. Only one that made me want more. But my head wound started bleeding and he made me lie down.**

**This time, there is nothing to but us to interrupt us. And after a few attempts, Peeta gives up on talking. The sensation inside me grows warmer and spreads out from my chest, down through my body, out along my arms and legs, to the tips of my being. Instead of satisfying me, the kisses have the opposite effect, of making me need greater. I thought I was something of an expert on hunger, but this is an entirely new kind.**

His arms were so gentle and warm; I could have stayed in them forever. I almost felt like I was back home, wrapped in the warmth and security of my father's hunting jacket. Everything about this moment was perfect. My heart was beating so fast; I was certain he could hear it.

"Peeta," I murmured softly against his lips. He made a small sound acknowledging that he had heard me, but never moving to pull his lips from mine. "I love you."

This got him to pull away and look me dead in the eyes, as if searching for something that I hoped he would find. Apparently, he found something good, because a bright and perfect smile spreads wide across his lips as he brought them back to mine.

"You really mean it this time don't you?" he mumbled quietly into my hair so that no one could hear it other than me. I nodded my head and blushed against his chest. I know he could feel the heat from my face because he pulled it off his chest to look at it. "You are so cute when you do that."

"Why don't you show me just how cute I am," I reply, pulling him back to my lips and deepening our kiss further than it had ever been. He moaned as I pressed my tongue against his still closed lips and opened them to welcome me in. We laid back gently in the sand; breathes mingling and bodies aching for each other. My heart skipped a beat as he nipped my ear and I gasped lightly. I realized then, it was Peeta, it had always been Peeta. My boy with the bread who had saved me in every way a person can be saved. He would make it out of this arena alive, and I would trade my life for his to make sure of it.

I pressed my hand to the small of his back at that thought; if he'd known I was thinking this, it would ruin our moment. I wanted Peeta to have one memory of a time when he was one hundred percent sure that my love for him was true. If he knew my plan, it would soil this memory forever; and I would not let that happen.

It was becoming all the more evident that I was not letting go any time soon. He slipped his hand around to lock it around my bathing suit top, pulling the string to untie it. As it hung loosely against my breasts, I explored his chest and stomach. Each definition sent shock waves rolling through my body. My hands refused to be still. Everything about him, causing me to want him that much more. How is it possible that you can love someone so much and still be so clueless? I pulled the top over my head and threw onto the sand beneath us.

His hands ran slowly down my sides, stopping at my hips. He rested them against the top of my swimsuit bottoms. He looked into my eyes, searching for permission. I only stared back for a moment, lost in those perfect blue orbs; I looked out to the sea and realized just how much the colors resembled each other. I looked back and nodded; I f ever anyone had asked me if I would want this, I would have said no. but now, here with Peeta, all that changed.

He pulled my bottoms off and threw them to the side. I moaned as the most sensitive part of my body grazed the bulge of his trunks. I looked down between us; when I looked up again, he was smiling.

"What?" I asked with a smile of my own.

"You're being pure again; it's adorable."

I pushed us up into a sitting position and straddled his body; I pushed my body against his and kiss his lips hard. When I pulled back, he was flushed and breathing heavily. "Who's the pure one now?"

He brought his lips back to mine and I put my hands on the waistband of his trunks. I pulled them down and threw them onto the sand. I lay back on the sand and pulled him on top of me. He looked at me so innocently.

"Katniss, I…I've never done this before," he whispered. We both knew that the Capitol thought I was pregnant, so we had to be discreet.

"Me either, but it means a lot that I'm your first too."

"Of course you are, I've loved you since we were five remember?"

This brought a small laugh from my lips as his returned to them. Suddenly, something hit me and I pulled away. "Peeta," I said calmly, "be gentle, please."

"He brought his lips back to mine, "Always," he murmured.

As promised, Peeta was slow and gentle. I knew how much it must be killing him that he had to restrain himself, but it had to be this way. He pushed himself inside me a little at a time until he met with my barrier; the last thing maintaining my purity. He pulled his face away from mine to look into my eyes. Once again, he was asking permission. I nodded and he gave me a look as if to say, _I'm sorry_.

He broke through quickly, but not without a scream of pain from me. He became completely still. He touched my face gently as I moaned in pain; he never moved, only played with my loose hairs and stroked my face. After what seemed like hours, I couldn't take it anymore.

"Peeta, please."

"Are you sure? I don't want to hurt you anymore."

I raised my hips against him, pushing him further inside me. Our breaths mingled, our hands roamed, and our hips rocked against each other. I know that our allies must have heard us from such a short distance, but I didn't care; I was showing my love for Peeta, and that's all that mattered.

In such a short time, I began to near my end. As it came ever closer, I began screaming Peeta's name and digging my fingernails into his strong shoulders, making them bleed. All at once, the fire that had started in my stomach engulfed my entire body and I screamed his name one last time. He followed soon after, but rather than scream, he rested his head on my shoulder and whispered, "I love you Katniss," as he released inside me.

He pulled from inside me and lay down on the sand; it was pitch black, so I'm sure that the cameras couldn't see the blood in the sand. I thought back to that conversation we had been having earlier, how he had told me about no one needing him. It was then that I realized why he hadn't pulled out before his release; he wanted me to have one little piece of him to remember by after he sacrificed himself in the arena. I let the tears flow silently as I lay in his arms; how could I deny him his dying wish?


End file.
